The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Gas pressure regulators are employed in a variety of applications in order to reduce and adjust the pressure of gases provided from gas cylinders to downstream equipment. In one common application, oxy-fuel cutting, two gas cylinders are present, one for acetylene gas and another for oxygen gas. As shown in FIG. 1, a gas pressure regulator 1 is secured to the top of a gas cylinder 2, (only one gas pressure regulator and one gas cylinder are shown), which is controlled by an operator in order to properly adjust the pressure of gases for ignition and subsequent cutting. These conventional gas pressure regulators 1 include a cylinder pressure gauge 3, a line pressure gauge 4, and a line pressure adjustment knob 5. Additionally, a cylinder valve knob 6 is mounted to the gas cylinder 2 to open and close the flow of gas from the gas cylinder 2 to the gas pressure regulator 1. The gas pressure regulator 1 also includes other features such as a relief valve 7 and outlet 8 as shown. With these conventional gas pressure regulators and the means by which they are mounted to the gas cylinder 2, there are several locations that are susceptible to damage, as shown, if the gas cylinder 2 were, for example, to fall over or be mishandled during operation.
These conventional gas pressure regulators have also maintained substantially the same design for decades, yet have carried their overall bulky character and lack of robustness and ergonomic features over time. Improved gas pressure regulators that are safer, easier to use, and which provide a more compact package to the end user are continually desirable in the art of gas regulation, particularly regulation of combustible or flammable compressed gas stored in gas cylinders, including gas cylinders for oxy fuel cutting.